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The war for American independence was hardscrabbled and its outcome was by no means certain. But after securing victory, our Founding Fathers were not so naive as to take that hard-won independence for granted. They were well aware that no country’s future is strewn with roses or some endless Pax Romana. And they were right. Our young history has been pockmarked with cannon fire and combat, proving America is no exception to the sad rule of war, an inevitability that ends what negotiations cannot.

But while battles, in the grand scheme of human existence, may be inevitable, not every one is. An historian’s purpose is to pore over the past not just to highlight what has changed — for surely that’s the easiest comparison to make — but to notice patterns, to underscore similar actions of human folly that may be averted the next time ’round. Read More